I am disappoint, Blizzard!

[EmilyGloom]

The morning brings a trio of horror-news about Diablo III. I’m outright bewildered about what Blizzard have done, and shuddering about the likely reaction in comments. I won’t muck around here, and instead shall just wade straight into the things that are probably going to end up being PC gaming’s biggest controversy of 2011.

1) The game requires a constant internet connection. It cannot be played offline.

2) Mods are “expressly prohibited.”

3) Items in the auction house are bought and sold for real-life money.

Uh-oh.

When my future children ask me “where were you when the war began, Daddy?” I’ll think of this day. And I’ll say “well, sweetling, I was drinking a cup of instant coffee, sat in my dressing gown in front of my PC, same as every morning. But on this particular morning, I don’t mind telling you, I sprayed that coffee all over my monitor and had to fight the urge to leave the internet for a least a month. For I knew what was coming, child. I knew. Every day since, I thank every god I can think of that we’re somehow still alive, that the Earth somehow still turns.”

All of news this via PC Gamer (who’ve been to see Blizzard recently),

here, here and here.

In order, here’s Blizzard’s justifications:

1) “One of the things that we felt was really important was that if you did play offline, if we allowed for that experience, you’d start a character, you’d get him all the way to level 20 or level 30 or level 40 or what have you, and then at that point you might decide to want to venture onto Battle.net. But you’d have to start a character from scratch, because there’d be no way for us to guarantee no cheats were involved, if we let you play on the client and then take that character online.” Also, piracy.

2) “For a variety of gameplay and security reasons, we will not be supporting bots or mods in Diablo III, and they’ll be expressly prohibited by our terms of use for the game.”

3) “We think it’s really going to add a lot of depth to the game. If I have more money than time I can purchase items, or if I’m leet in the game I can get benefits out of it. The players really want it. This is something that we know people are going to do either way. We can provide them a really safe, awesome, fun experience, or they’ll find ways of doing it elsewhere.” Blizzard will take a small cut, but they’re not expecting to make too much of a profit out of it themselves. They also say there’ll be level caps on items, so you can’t immediately shortcut to a high-level sword with a level-1 character, not matter how rich you are, plus there will also be an additional auction house that uses in-game gold. So this element of the game can, at least, be dodged entirely.

As for the online requirement and the mod-blocking? That’s just desperately sad. The DRM was at least in StarCraft II, so it’s not too much of a shock, but given both Blizzard rich history of allowing user modification, and just how much it’s given to so many of their previous games, it’s hard to not feel let down by the decision to outright ban Diablo 3 modding. Let’s hope they have a change of heart on that point particularly.

Source: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/08/01/diablo-iii-no-mods-online-only-cash-trades/

I for one, somewhat understand the no mods decision, though open battle.net worked fine for D2... modded players played with other modded players, so I really cant see why that would be an issue this time around. I also figured that Blizzard would find a way to make continuous money off of this franchise, like its done with WoW, but to have it as a character auction surprises the hell out of me. Skimming off the top of client trades just seems so... dirty. Thats business though, I suppose. Lastly, not being able to play offline? WHAT KIND OF BULLSHIT IS THAT?

Tl;dr Blizzard became douches once Craptivision bought them out.

Thoughts?

[Dreakon139]

I can see PC users buying their excuses and letting all of this slide. Kind of like if Valve pulled some shenanigans like this one day.

[Griefheart]

Well, RL money trading is bullshit, years ago one of my friends was a GM on Tibia.com, we used to sell "hacked" items he spawned for a few dorrars each on one of the servers, we often joked if we ever owned the company we'd recolour a few items and add an extra +1 def stat or some shit and sell it for 10 bucks a piece, then EQ started it a couple of years later.

RL trading is total BS, these guys make enough cash as it is.

As for internet connection? It wont take long at all for somone to just setup a proxy with that IP and play offline or setup their own open bnet, rediculous really, no doubt we'll get some mods there too.

Oh well, this'll be one of those games everyone plays but nobody pays for ... spore anyone?

Edit: Just saw who wrote this! I had sex with op ktnx.

[Nagflar]

I can't wait to pirate this game just to give Blizzard the finger.

[Artemisthemp]

You need Internet Connection to play a Offline game?

That is strange

Real Life money for ingame item?

Guess Parents have to watch their Credit card.

Diablo 3 Will also have some Ninja, that just steal your loot to sell it on AH.

[Parker]

The only thing that bothers me is the constant internet connection required. It isn't a huge deal because I have pretty stable internet but it would be quite bothersome if I was in the middle of something and the internet stutters, causing me to lose my progress.

Parker

[AlteredFormula]

Oh Blizzard...

What have you done. Did our relationship with DIablo II mean nothing to you? Remember when I said "forever", and you said, "One day I'll improve my looks and we'll have a new adventure." I accepted that...

Then you took years to actually get off your ass and do it. I accepted that...

Now you turn up at my door, saying that the one thing that kept us together for so long is to be be no more, not only that but we have to stay online whilst we do it... then worst of all, you want me to pay?!

That Madam, is a step too far, this relationship is over, pack your shit and get out.

AF, Once known as Brutus The Barbarian.

[Nagflar]

Oh Blizzard...

What have you done. Did our relationship with DIablo II mean nothing to you? Remember when I said "forever", and you said, "One day I'll improve my looks and we'll have a new adventure." I accepted that...

Then you took years to actually get off your ass and do it. I accepted that...

Now you turn up at my door, saying that the one thing that kept us together for so long is to be be no more, not only that but we have to stay online whilst we do it... then worst of all, you want me to pay?!

That Madam, is a step too far, this relationship is over, pack your shit and get out.

AF, Once known as Brutus The Barbarian.

Don't forget to smack 'her' on the way out, Brutus.

[sundrew]

I was reading about this the other day and it made me really upset...oddly enough, I used to be entirely a PC gamer before the DRM and constant internet connection required for most games turned me off and caused me to switch to consoles. While I'm sure D3 will be great anyway, I may just pass on this one in protest - there are plenty of other games to hold my attention.

[Elliot]

A PC game with no mods and stupid DRM?

Why is this thing not on consoles? The many advantages of the PC platform have all been ignored, so there's no point it being on PC and not PS3.

[EmilyGloom]

A PC game with no mods and stupid DRM?

Why is this thing not on consoles? The many advantages of the PC platform have all been ignored, so there's no point it being on PC and not PS3.

Theres talk of it being on PS3, actually... cant remember the source, but blizzard was hiring people specifically to port to console for (allegedly) this game.

[AlteredFormula]

Theres talk of it being on PS3, actually... cant remember the source, but blizzard was hiring people specifically to port to console for (allegedly) this game.

I've also heard / read this somewhere... a quick search gave me this. http://www.joystiq.com/2011/06/03/blizzard-hiring-playstation-3-specialist-for-diablo-3-team/

[Griefheart]

I've an overwhelming urge to play D2 now.

[wandarer]

I started to see a decline in Starcraft II. We saw Blizzard rip out the LAN component of SCII, which in my mind, was the #1 reason to get the game among PC game enthusiasts to get the game, at least in my mind.

Now this with Diablo 3. I am not surprised, but I am disappointed.

[Kirbz]

perfect time to go back to diablo 2

[Nagflar]

I started to see a decline in Starcraft II. We saw Blizzard rip out the LAN component of SCII, which in my mind, was the #1 reason to get the game among PC game enthusiasts to get the game, at least in my mind.

Well, thousands of Koreans who have online Starcraft tournaments agree with you.

[Dreakon139]

My brother made some fairly convincing points when I talked to him about this (him being a PC gamer and me not so much). He seems relatively unphased by most of this news. The hardest news to take being the "always online" stuff.

Diablo has never been a series that heavily relied on mods. 99% of the "mods" and code-changes came in the form of the most outlandish hacks I have ever seen and adding the ability to dupe items. I can't say I necessarily blame Blizzard for taking a stronger stance against that sort of thing. As far as Diablo is concerned, mods have hurt the game and it's online economy (which is so important for a game so heavily reliant on it's item economy for longevity) far, far more than it has benefited from it.

One could argue that keeping 99% of the sensitive game information server-side... or having the whole damn thing online... will also help the game in the long run, as inconvenient as it is. Even if it's still "hackable", because everything is, the game would be less susceptible to them and Blizzard will be able to better moderate what happens over their servers.

As for the real life auction houses. Yeah, it's kind of lame. On the plus side though, if there's a means of spending your real money on items that can actually be moderated by Blizzard (assuming they do), that just means less people going out and spending hundreds of dollars buying gold and items on these farming sites. And if there's any funny business going on, Blizzard will be in a position where they can directly stamp it out. And as the article in the OP says, there will still be level requirements. Who really cares if some guy levels himself up to the max and buys some fancy items? Should be playing and item hunting to have fun.

[Elliot]

mods have hurt the game and it's online economy (which is so important for a game so heavily reliant on it's item economy for longevity)

The fact that it even has an "online economy" means it's pretty much dead on arrival, if you ask me. It should be single player and have NPC shopkeepers like Diablo 2. I never heard anyone complain "There needs to be more MMO aspects to this game" when they played Diablo 2, after all.

Some clever sod will create a crack for it that disables this "always online" crap and then the mods will flow. Kudos to them in advance. Teach Blizzard not to dick about with PC gamers.

[Dreakon139]

The fact that it even has an "online economy" means it's pretty much dead on arrival, if you ask me. It should be single player and have NPC shopkeepers like Diablo 2. I never heard anyone complain "There needs to be more MMO aspects to this game" when they played Diablo 2, after all.

Diablo 2 had an online economy. Item-duping hacks and chinese gold farmers did a number on it lol.

[Elliot]

Diablo 2 had an online economy. Item-duping hacks and chinese gold farmers did a number on it lol.

...oops. Didn't know that.

In which case they should bloody learn from their mistakes.

[Dreakon139]

...oops. Didn't know that.

In which case they should bloody learn from their mistakes.

That's just it, I think they're trying to.

By making the game online-only and doing everything they can to prevent modding (which was never particularly big in the Diablo's anyways), is their way of saying they want as much control as possible over the online play and the economy. The latter of which especially took beatings throughout the first two Diablo's lives until they weren't even worth really, seriously playing online anymore outside of the ladders. They were so riddled with illegitimate items that even the best stuff would become virtually worthless.

Even the "real money" auction house could help. Instead of paying money and supporting the bots and chinese gold farmers for well... gold... and high-end items, players can spend their money under the watchful eye of Blizzard. If it's going to happen anyways, at least this way it's safe and moderated... and fishy activity (selling a ton of high end items cheap, for example) can be investigated and, if necessary, stamped out.

[Elliot]

That's just it, I think they're trying to.

By making the game online-only and doing everything they can to prevent modding (which was never particularly big in the Diablo's anyways), is their way of saying they want as much control as possible over the online play and the economy. The latter of which especially took beatings throughout the first two Diablo's lives until they weren't even worth really, seriously playing online anymore outside of the ladders. They were so riddled with illegitimate items that even the best stuff would become virtually worthless.

Even the "real money" auction house could help. Instead of paying money and supporting the bots and chinese gold farmers for well... gold... and high-end items, players can spend their money under the watchful eye of Blizzard. If it's going to happen anyways, at least this way it's safe and moderated... and fishy activity (selling a ton of high end items cheap, for example) can be investigated and, if necessary, stamped out.

I'd rather it were all offline, there's no need for MMO elements to be arbitrarily thrown in, I don't see what it adds, frankly.

[Dreakon139]

I'd rather it were all offline, there's no need for MMO elements to be arbitrarily thrown in, I don't see what it adds, frankly.

Considering Diablo was never heralded for it's revolutionary story or anything, I'd personally think the offline would get stale pretty quickly after the first playthrough or two. From a casual gamers perspective, the only thing that kept me playing the little bit I did was playing with others and doing boss runs to "grind" for better items (whether it was to use them or sell/trade them with other players). I don't think I'm alone in that, and thus the importance of a strong, stable online economy.

Diablo III may be aiming at a better story and deeper gameplay for all I know, but as far as Diablo I and II were concerned, the online play/Battle.Net were the reasons they survived as long as they did... even with the item hacks and bots.